However, a few years after Leyas moved into the forest on the edge of the kingdom, her precious brother had stumbled upon them deep in the woods, following a rumor. He was a genius and incredibly fickle, but he treasured Leyas more than anything. At first, he’d tried to convince her to come home with him, but in recent years, it seemed he had given up on that, and he came only to visit. The fact he had finally accepted his sister’s decision to remain still filled Leyas with joy, as if it had only happened yesterday.
If I had known this was going to happen, I would have let him talk...
A few years prior, her brother had informed her that the mystery of the blood had been solved. But when he’d tried to explain it to her, she’d immediately hushed him, terrified of the implication of revealing the secrets of their people to an outsider as she was now.
“This is the result of my hard work,” he’d said before handing her a small bag. “So please take this at the very least.”
Leyas squeezed her eyes tight now, recalling that bag. She had told her daughter it was hopeless, but she couldn’t think of any other way.
If it doesn’t work...I’ll take full responsibility.
After sitting in silence for a while, Misha’s mother finally opened her eyes and rose to her feet, her face resolute.
“Let’s go talk to my father-in-law. We’ll see if he’s willing to take another gamble.”
Hurrying after her mother, it never occurred to Misha how much she’d regret not getting her mother to explain further. After talking about the new treatment method and its risks, Misha’s grandfather sat in silence for a time.
“Is this a normal treatment where you come from?” he asked.
“I cannot say. When I left, it was still being researched. That’s why it is so dangerous,” she responded softly.
He gave a small nod. “According to the rumors, the apothecaries of your land are head and shoulders above the rest. If only we could have them here...”
Leyas’s homeland was so far away, and the People of the Forest were particularly secretive. Outsiders knew very little about them. Although he lamented that a better relationship with them might have brought about a different future, Leyas shook her head.
“The moment I decided to go with my lord, they cut all ties with me. There was nothing to be done.”
Misha was confused. It was true that he only came once in a while, but they were still on very good terms with her uncle. Why was her mother keeping that a secret?
“Very well. I said I would leave it all to you, and I will. Give it a try.”
“Thank you.” Leyas bowed deeply before taking Misha with her back to the side of the girl’s father.
His complexion remained horrid, but his expression was at least peaceful. It seemed the painkillers were working.
“Misha, watch very carefully. This is an invaluable skill that almost no one else knows of,” she whispered, her apothecary’s facade coming back on.
“What’s that?” Misha asked as her mother pulled an unfamiliar implement from her belongings.
“It’s a special tool. I snuck it out of my home when I left to be with your father,” she said, though it was a little white lie. She was holding a pair of rather large needles, which were attached together by some kind of cord.
“This is hollow. We can use it to transfer blood between people.”
“How did they make a hole in such a small needle?”
“I have no idea. I didn’t make it myself. More importantly, we need to sterilize them first. Can you boil some water?”
At her mother’s instruction, Misha lit the hearth in the corner of the room on which she placed a pot. Leyas pulled back the sleeve of his shirt and—just in case—slipped some sleeping powder under his nose. She did not expect this procedure to be as painful as the last, but things would turn dire if he started to thrash.
Deeno, please. Accept my blood, Leyas begged in her heart, running a finger down his pale cheek. He seemed so much more gaunt than she remembered.
“I’m ready, mom.”
Before Leyas knew it, a good amount of time had passed. Misha was standing at her side, holding a tray with a cloth and the needles with their tube.
With one last deep breath, Leyas switched modes. It was the first time she was doing this in decades. Her skills had no doubt gone rusty, so she needed to focus.
“First, we try inserting the needle just a little,” Leyas said, tightening a cord around her upper arm. Her pale skin, untouched by the sun, soon came alive with bright blue blood vessels.
“The large vessels are here and here. But don’t use this one if you can help it. The blood will come out so fast, you’ll have a hard time stopping it.”
Using her own body as an example, she carefully explained the procedure to her daughter. Leyas couldn’t help but grin at the serious expression on Misha’s face as she took it all in. The way she hungered for knowledge and sucked it all in was just like Leyas when she was younger.
Learning new things was so much fun back then.
Shaking off the nostalgia, Leyas picked up the two needles. Detaching one from the tube, she then inserted the other into her arm. There was a faint pricking sensation, then blood began running through the needle. Apparently, her skills hadn’t dulled quite as much as she had feared, she thought with a sigh of relief. After letting a few drops of blood flow through and out the other end of the tube, she bent it back to stop the flow.
Next, she took the arm of her husband, lying motionless on the bed. She tied a cord around his arm the same way she had her own, but perhaps because of all the blood he had lost, the paths didn’t show up. However, Leyas was experienced enough to find the spot she was looking for anyway.
With quick, sharp movements, she inserted the needle into his arm. Blood immediately started gushing out, so she wasted no time connecting it to the tube still attached to her arm. She immediately felt blood flowing from her above to her husband below.
“One, two, three...” After counting slowly to a hundred, she quickly removed the needle from her husband’s arm and wrapped it in a bandage. “Misha, hold this.” After confirming there was blood coming from the needle still, she then removed it from her own arm.
“Is dad okay?” Misha asked, her voice trembling. The red splotch growing on the bandage felt somehow scarier than usual.
“I don’t know. If there is no change in him after some time, that means he accepted the blood. Then we’ll be able to relax.”
“What kind of change?”
“There are lots of possibilities. Fever, pain, jaundice...”
Misha took mental note of all the possible symptoms as she watched her father rest. She wouldn’t let the slightest sign of something going wrong pass her by. That was the limit of what she could do at this point.
The two of them spent the next half a day taking turns watching him and sleeping on the room’s sofa. Eventually, Leyas concluded that he must have accepted her blood, earning a huge sigh of relief from her daughter. They couldn’t let their guards down yet, but they had finally found a good reason to be optimistic.
After checking the wounds on his back one last time, she instructed the maid to inform them of any change, no matter how slight, and returned with Misha to the room set apart for them.
“We still have a long way to go. Rest while you can, and eat when you have the chance.”
With all that had happened, Misha had no appetite at all, but she nevertheless followed her mother’s instructions and forced down some of the food that had been provided for them. She realized that they couldn’t afford to be collapsing themselves.
It’s been such a long day since that mail bird showed up. Wait, has it really been only one day?!
Misha suppressed a sigh as she bit into some roast chicken. So many things that never could have happened in the forest had hit her all at the same time. Now she felt like her head was about to explode.
“You must be tired. Why don’t we call it a night?”
At her mother’s urging, Misha lay down on the bed. No sooner had her head hit the pillow than a deep, dreamless sleep welcomed her.